News Details

Sen. Rooney reacts to Budget Address, urges lawmakers to work together

2/14/2018

Lawmakers from both the Senate and the House of Representatives came together Feb. 14 for a joint session of the General Assembly, gathering to listen to the annual Budget Address.

State Sen. Tom Rooney (R-Rolling Meadows) issued the following statement after the Address:

“Today, the Governor laid out his agenda for Illinois’ Fiscal Year 2019 spending plan and his priorities to help Illinois recover, grow and thrive. Most notably, the plan proposed in the House Chambers today was a balanced spending framework, ensuring that state spending would not exceed incoming revenue.

“For far too long, Illinois has been trapped in a self-defeating cycle, out-spending revenues, overtaxing our taxpayers and expecting different results without the willingness to make the tough decisions needed to help Illinois compete and succeed.

“The Governor’s proposal is just the start of a long legislative process. We have a lot of work to do through our committees. Not everything in this budget will survive the process, but my first look at it at least shows me that the building blocks are here. Lawmakers need to embrace a willingness to compromise, work together and implement the critical reforms needed to help Illinois succeed.

“I’m hopeful that we won’t have a repeat of last year and that we can work together, in a bipartisan manner, to provide the people of this state a budget they can support and a budget we can afford.”